Posted 5 years ago on April 25, 2012, 5:54 p.m. EST by shadz66
(19985)
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''Social Security is Strong''

by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)

A new report today by Social Security trustees showed the program's trust fund has $2.7 trillion in reserves and will grow to $3.06 trillion by 2021, enough to maintain the unbroken record of paying every nickel owed to every beneficiary in full for another two decades.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has introduced legislation to strengthen Social Security and guarantee benefits for 75 years by extending the payroll tax that most Americans already pay to those who earn above $250,000 a year.

"The most effective way to strengthen Social Security for the next 75 years is to eliminate the cap on the payroll tax on income above $250,000. Right now, someone who earns $110,100 pays the same amount of money into Social Security as a billionaire. That makes no sense," said Sanders, the chairman of the Defending Social Security Caucus. He also chairs the Senate aging subcommittee.

Under the proposed legislation, the wealthiest Americans would pay the same payroll tax rate already assessed on those with incomes up to $110,100 a year. Social Security officials have calculated that the simple change would keep the retirement program strong for another 75 years. The legislation also follows through on a proposal that President Barack Obama made in 2008 when he was running for president.

Since it was signed into law 76 years ago, Social Security has kept millions of senior citizens, widows, widowers, orphans, and the disabled out of poverty. Before Social Security, about half of senior citizens lived in poverty. Today, less than 10 percent do.

"I strongly disagree with some of my colleagues who want to balance the budget by cutting Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and other programs that are of enormous importance to seniors and the working families of our country. There are ways to address the deficit crisis without attacking some of the most vulnerable members of our society. As chairman of the Defending Social Security Caucus, I will do everything in my power to make sure that the promises made to seniors will be kept."

Social Security provides support for 55 million people, including 38 million retired workers, 6 million widows, widowers and orphans, and 11 million disabled workers. The most successful government program in our nation's history has not contributed one dime to the federal deficit.

150 Comments

This is the truth that is found scarcely. Bernie Sanders is one of the very few that really speak for the middle class but gets little air play. This message needs to get out there. If the Republicans (GOP) abolish Social Security which is what they intend we will begin a life in a country that no longer gives a good crap about anybody but the super rich. These greedy rich fat cats are trying to buy our democracy right out from underneath us. We MUST stem this tide or we will lose our way.

The Repugnant Party wants our country to FAIL, it's their strategy to reclaim the presidency, senate, and house. AND then hand it over to the rich by permanently enshrining their tyranny into law.

We can not let the GOP slide here. Their intention is to gut the hell out of SS by underfunding it by Blaming it for our deficit which is an outright LIE. Once gutted it will surely die and then we will return to much earlier days here in America when the Robber Barons ruled the landscape with their $$$$$. If you weren't making it then, your best bet would be to find a good ditch to lay down in and die. Life was crap and living takes on a different dimension. Maybe this is why history repeats, we never learn, so we keep going back to end of the line just before reaching the front. The lemming nature of humanity.

Excellent point. Social Security is plagued with mythology that is perpetuated by most people who discuss it. I can only hope more people become educated about it soon before it becomes targeted for cuts that will further decline the middle class in this country. The wealthy "pay for play crowd" want more rewards for their wallets as they support the right wing nut jobs to further reduce their tax burden as their government cuts the social safety net out from underneath tens of millions hard working average middle class Americans. We can become a nation that no longer gives a care. Social Darwinism played at high stakes, winner takes all. If we let it. History does repeat, it can now...

Yeah, I just heard a scare piece about this on CBS awhile ago, saying that social security was running out of money. In the piece, if I recall correctly, they referred to it as an "entitlement." Man, that made my blood boil. Both of those things are a complete lie.

''A nation will not survive morally or economically when so few have so much, while so many have so little. It is simply not acceptable that the top 1 percent owns 38 percent of the financial wealth of the nation, while the bottom 60 percent owns all of 2.3 percent. We need to establish a progressive tax system which asks the wealthy to start paying their fair share of taxes, and which ends the outrageous loopholes that enable one out of four corporations to pay nothing in federal taxes.'' ;

''At a time when only one in five workers in the private sector have a defined benefit pension plan; half of Americans have less than $10,000 in savings; and two-thirds of seniors rely on Social Security for more than half of their income, we must expand and protect Social Security so that every American can retire with dignity.'' &

''During the financial crisis, huge Wall Street banks received more than $700 billion in financial aid from the Treasury Department and more than $16 trillion from the Federal Reserve because they were "too big to fail." Yet today, the largest banks in this country are much bigger than they were before taxpayers bailed them out. It's time to break up these behemoths so that they cannot cause another recession that could wreck the global economy.'' from :

Courtesy of bw & frankly, essential info & arguments in these times of 0.01% Oligarchy assault on what li'l democracy there was left in U$A! Here's some crucial info as to the roots of what's going on right now in tRUMP-land USA:

Final fact = IF USA was really a democracy .. Bernie would've beaten HRC & then tRUMp - period! Ergo tho' it's going to get worse before it gets better .. hope is NOT dead & The 99% can get its shit together!

True indeed. Congress and the U.S. public were tricked into merging social security trust fund with the general fund. The money collected for social security was to be invested in the safest possible form of investment there was and it was the U.S. Treasury Obligations.

The late Senator Patrick Moynihan (D NY) realized what a grave and stupid mistake it was and tried to turn social security into being funded by the general revenue rather than overcollecting social security taxes and moving the money to the U.S. Treauries to make the U.S. budget deficits look much better.

For a long long time, there were even no paper treasury notes and bonds issued for the social security trust fund until people had started asking questions. There's really NO separate trust fund. When the need for payouts arises, the U.S. government must divert money from the general fund to pay the social security benefits. All of the so-called excess social security money has already been spent on so many military bases, aircraft carriers (sinkable and unsinkable ones), interventions, ..., to paper clips.

The current hoopla is an attempt to deny promised benefits to the working stiffs who paid into the "trust" fund. The hoped-for result by the GOOP is to increase social security taxes to "save" social security or rendering part of the promised benefits null-and-void. The real problem is that the U.S. government is starting to feel a budget crunch with interest rates being normalized.

Who owes the most money on planet Earth since money and lending have been invented? The U.S. government. Who gets hurt the most when interest rates start to go higher? The U.S. government. "Now let's keep the working stiffs working longer and pay them less in benefits. Isn't work what they have been clamoring for?"

Oh yeah, MOAR work is coming for the working stiffs, how about age 69 instead of 67? 69 is far sexier and novel for the stiffeneders.

''Self-service checkout may work at grocery stores, but it's not the right model for an agency tasked with determining complex retirement and disability benefits for tens of millions of Americans each year. Do they really expect grandpa to hop on his iPad Mini to apply for benefits and get all his questions answered?

''Most of the individuals contacting SSA for help are elderly, disabled or indigent. Many others are active seniors who simply are overwhelmed by the complicated maze of laws, regulations and policies pertaining to retirement benefits. They deserve and expect face-to-face interaction with skilled employees who can ensure they receive all the benefits they are owed.'' - excerpted from your important link, from I also extracted the following salient links :

''Self-service checkout may work at grocery stores, but it's not the right model for an agency tasked with determining complex retirement and disability benefits for tens of millions of Americans each year. Do they really expect grandpa to hop on his iPad Mini to apply for benefits and get all his questions answered?

Good point - also the web sites are all too often ( always ) less than helpful. Much to read with no real informational content or links to take one to the actual topic/issue page to continue or even initiate registration for aid = all text with no possibility of initiating actual action.

Example ( 1 ) - say a person is already collecting SS but now they need to find affordable housing that they qualify for so that they can keep a roof over their head and continue to eat on a somewhat regular basis. Going to the SS web site is likely gonna be one hell of a frustrating experience if one is looking for help ( trying to initiate an immediate action process ) with this issue = affordable or subsidized housing.

Banksters, Corporations and Wall Street can't wait to get their hands on Social Security and Public Sector Pension Pots

Last untouched reserves of the body of society - open those gates - and see the death of society greatly increased in speed. Pouring out societies life's blood on the ground just like the 85 billion per month that is currently being poured out onto the ground.

The $85B / month is true !!! And utterly fkn mind-blowing !! ''Quantitative Easing'' = 'Queasing' ... ie. that which is certain to make you vomit and wretch IF you truly see it for what it is ! So also consider :

QE should ( SHOULD ) have been shit canned the 1st time it was mentioned and replaced with QI ( quantitative improvements ) a clean energy and industry and infrastructure Public Works program to boost employment ( with a real minimum "LIVING" wage ) - to rebuild the engine and transmission ( drive train ) of the economy put on fresh positive traction wheels & fill ( to be self sustaining ) the economy's Fuel Tank for real healthy stability.

I mean really - why pour 85 billion a month - for YEARS - out onto the ground = QE ( quantitative easing ) ? Wall street is "NOT" the economy - "IT" at Best is JUST A REFLECTION OF THE ECONOMY. So the 85 Billion a month ( for years ) never came near the economy - it was poured onto a reflection - and so = straight onto the ground!!!

I am independent. It has become increasingly difficult to find people that run as Independents that are not Republicans or Tea Party in my area. Well, let me be clear. I have been here 10 years. In that 10 years- that is what I have been seen.

I see and agree with your line of thought in the short term up to November (as I always have done) but thereafter 'nose-holding and voting' just won't do !! The Duopolistic Faux-Contest betwixt 'Tweedledumb and Tweedledumbass' has to be fractured once and for all or else it'll again continue to be a case of 'plus ca change plus c'est la meme chose' !!!

Ok, couldn't finish that video, it made me so angry. Good, let 'em laugh. See if they're laughing after Sanders and Corbyn take over the Western World. Fuck 'em and their beloved inequality. The "Milken" Institute. More like the "Milk 'Em" Institute.

Just sickening behavior. And, yes, I absolutely agree that though Bernie Sanders is completely authentic and has been saying what he's saying for years and even before Occupy, without Occupy, he wouldn't have the platform he has today.

They can take down the tents but they simply cannot take down the ideas. The time for the 99% is coming....

''The Milk 'Em Institute" LOL! My significant other once worked in his office at Drexel Burn'em & Lambert in NYC and she didn't have a good word for Michael Milk'Em either, lol. Sorry if that short video was a bit barf inducing but I absolutely had to post it here for all to see the levels of disdain the 0.01% have for us.

Just occasionally ''the establishment'' do NOT get to have Everything Their Own Way!!! FDR proved that when TPTB wanted Gen Smedley Butler to over throw him in a fkn coup & maybe JFK/RFK proved that too!! Your point re. Hitlary & Sanders saying what you say he said is strong, but I recall answering that or a similar point at least once before - in that maybe it isn't quite politic to instantly alienate HRC fans!

For my more substantive replies to you on this and similar matters, please again see our exchange here

IF The Corporate Donkey DNC & Hitlary stitch Sanders up in April'16 - he SHOULD ABSOLUTELY RUN AS AN INDEPENDENT & ditto for Trump so both could / should / would .. deal a perhaps mortal blow to The Utterly Undemocratic US Duopoly, itself for all intents & purposes a (s)election, after an ultimatum!!!

So Fuck The DNC and fuck ''the democratic party''!!! At this juncture - it is really ALL about Bernie!! THE completely clearly closest to Occupy Wall Street/The 99%'s ideals POTUS Candidate in over 50 years!!

''Most of us have heard one of these declarations in school, on television or .. around the dinner table. Whatever the specific reason, the lesson we are all meant to take away is that socialism ain't gonna happen. Interestingly, the argument always begins with the reluctant concession that socialism is,in fact, a good idea.

''There's even a rightwing bumper sticker that goes a step further than good and reads: "Socialism ... A Great Idea until You Run Out of Other People's Money." I realize that the guy with this message on his vehicle alongside Confederate flags and various other .. "I'm an asshole" signifiers, doesn't mean it as a compliment. But it says something that even the most hostile opponents of socialism often start out by admitting that it sure sounds nice.

''Those of us criticizing capitalism should be able to make fun of ourselves as well. Politicians can dress up every two-bit proposal about corporate tax breaks with big ideas about freedom and liberty - let those radicals who actually have big ideas ... put them out with a humility and humor befitting all those whose dreams still far outpace our accomplishments.

''Jokes are also a safety precaution against the relentless negativity ... that is an occupational hazard for activists who spend their lives organizing against war, poverty, and other horrors, that most people try to avoid contemplating for too long. We are looking for a positive path for humanity, not just trying to add to the chorus of news cranks and internet trolls. So later to the haters. Socialism is for The Lovers.'' - from:

Capitalism has served many of us well, but it required us to keep a blind eye to the the devastating inequities and the debasement that it brought on other people, and on our planet.

An economic system that requires an unlimited amount of resources on a finite planet.... a World that is already suffering greatly from the degradations brought on by this scurrilous system... and then combine that with the fact it thrives on inhumane sacrifice... going forward, that system is untenable; is totally unworkable, and it is unacceptable. Socialism, where people and our environment are the priority is the only system that can save us.

Although Sweden, a socialist country has lurched to the right in recent years, like most other countries have, it is still considered one of the most equal countries (maybe still the most) in the World. And innovation has flourished there.

There does not have to be a good reason for either party to abandon candidates of their own party, other than them being a perceived threat to upset the corrupt apple-cart. To a far lesser degree, I saw that with a young lady who happens to be a distant relative, in my home state. When she ran for state senator, she bucked the party's wishes, and filled out a VOTE SMART form. Support dried up, and she was hung out to dry. She was disgusted by it, me too.

What is a ''VOTE SMART'' form?! How do you do that, for a Corporate Ass / Corporate Elephant?!! What can we now expect from a Corrupt, Conniving, Corporate Con-Trolled Duopoly racket?!!! Is Bernie better?

WOW, lots of questions for me! Let's start with (and maybe end with..:) what was originally called Project Vote Smart, now just Vote Smart. It began in Corvallis,OR (on the Oregon State Uni.. campus) in 1999, and has since moved to Phillupsburg, MT. I remember back in the dinosaur days, before my semi-literate computer days..:), getting a cool pamphlet that I requested from them on candidates running for office. I also remember getting info on line of a state senator who IMO was guilty of a conflict of interest. Anyway VS is staffed with mostly volunteers, many of whom have backgrounds in political science. The mostly young people serve internships taking calls, doing research on political candidates (and more) who are either in office or running for office. The main objective of this nonpartisan, good government (very altruistic IMO) group is to give voters the resources so that they can make an informed decision before voting. If you were to sit home, not know anything about a person who was running for state or federal office, and instead just looked at their stuff, you could make a very informed decision, maybe even find what they call your political "soul mate."

One of the other things they do is, they send out forms, 'questionnaires' actually (as they did to my distant cousin and friend who was running for state Senate), or what they call Political Courage Tests to candidates running for office. The parties (both of whom are corrupt) discourage their candidates from answering these though because it gives their opponents a better chance of making negative attack ads against them. The parties (corrupt) like when their candidates can obfuscate the issues with double speak, MO.

Their web site has been really up graded since when I first joined in the early 2000's. Notice the cool rotating accolades on the top right, and in particular, "Vote Smart is a bright light in an often desultory civic culture."... Bill Moyers. Try navigating the site. If you wanted to make a quick decision, yet informed (better than most people, probably) you could just click on "Ratings."

Although I can't stand all the bullshit in the political spectacle (corrupt:), I do like fireworks, so I will probably make some popcorn, and watch the debate tonight. Hey... do you think Sanders will lash out at the Democrats, and run as an Independent?! Now, that development might reinvigorate my civic duty! :)

BTW, I want to read that ICH link, ".. Who Controls America" in its entirety. All these questions are backing me up.

Most of them were rhetorical tbh, so as to aid others to my conclusion but I do appreciate your reply & link - both of which I'll peruse at length & revert. I am in a bit of a rush right now tho' ergo I'll get back to you but in the meantime, I will leave this article by a friend of yours for now:

''Millions are beginning to reject the rule of the billionaire class and increasingly looking to genuine ideas of socialism. Mass movements of working people will now be the critical factor in leading humanity away from a world ridden with war, poverty, refugee crises and climate disaster and, toward a society that can use the resources of this planet to deliver a sustainable & high standard of living for all.'' It Can Be Done!

When "... the idiots in government.." give a near free reign to their benefactors to bring about a near fascist world, as they have done now, I would consider that the major threat. There has to be accountability and justice built into any system that we implement. And I can appreciate what I think is your concern of having a system that takes into account the human condition, and does not stifle it. I also think that we have to realize that our collective consciousnesses have been warped by the system that we have today.

Re: "At the end of the day, the people are to blame." I agree to an extent and will twinkle you back up. I will accept my culpability for things having gotten so bad. But I will offer a defense, or maybe it's an excuse. Your choice.

I read the papers, and watched the evening news regularly, and I thought that I was fairly well informed like a lot of other people did at the time. I remember my kids used to call the evening news, the snooze because of my habit of catching a nap sometimes towards the end of what were usually very busy days. Most of my generation's energies went to keeping the roofs over our family's heads, food on the table, paying the mortgage, picking up the kids at the Brownies, etc., and most importantly in teaching our kids right from wrong.

Admittedly I did not need to have swilled as much beer as I did, and we did not need to have all those informal get-togethers. I should have awakened and realized how my mind was manipulated by the corrupt elite, including the corporate owned media. My mistake, and my apologies. I'm here so that it doesn't happen again, and to make amends.

No they are NOT!!! Because IF they are .. then nothing is anyone's fault and blame is equally distributed right?!! No fkn way - I blame The Wolves & Farmers for the sheeple's plight!!! So baa-aack to the drawing board to formulate real 'soulutions' for Rapid-Evolution but let's get a good look at the predator/parasites:

Yes, we are both responsible for action and inaction, but the danger is that people reject engagement with a political process IF they are pilloried for its myriad inadequacies!!! Yes, ''Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty'' - AND ... ''Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people" (John Adams) also!! We here who are desperate to seed the change we wished we saw before - can't afford complacency or ennui - so we plod on regardless! Happy Yule/Xmas and Merry Mularkey & fyi..

This is also the dubious logic of Extremist Jihadi types! They claim that because we allegedly live in ''democracies'' in 'The West'' - then any and all asshole activity allegedly conducted on our behalf, by Western 1% Govts., is our fault & responsibility!! Thus we can all be made equally culpable and held accountable and so be punished for, the War Crimes of fkn RWNJ Neoliberal / Neocon, Neo-Colonial, Paleo-Imperialist - greedy, venal psycho-loons!!!

No fkn way!!! But I get your arguments and the old adages: ''Don't Vote - It Only Encourages Them'' & ''Whoever you vote for .. The Government Gets In''!! BUT like Jeremy Corbyn, who is now leading UK's Labour Party ... Bernie Sanders is a person of integrity, intelligence & intuition who deserves our and OWS' support in the short term .. although we do NOT stop Mobilising Mass Movements of The 99%, as that's the main longer term objective! Merry Xmas and Happy Holidays dude & do remember that if

So, do you think that there is some kind or Magic Wand to wave or a Magic Switch to flick .. so as to make everything bright and beautiful over night?!!! ''War Is Peace'' is the U$A's ''open platform''and has been for at least 70 (tho' I could argue 100+!) years!! Don't denigrate the small, electoral, conventional steps before you get all bedazzled by bigger, long term Revolutionary Prizes 'cause we'll need BOTH!

Happy Holidays to you & yours & maybe we all need to re-discover a ''Love Affair With Everyday Living''

I surely hope that we can break up the centralized schooling of our children and grandchildren because schools are germ factories. I remember how I got H1N1 flu during mega-Wiener's so-called administration.

With children being herded together like chickens in a chicken coop, imagine how bad things can get once we get communal spread of untreatable deadly diseases. Those cutie little hands that run everywhere curiously can give touches of death and the angelic faces may turn stone-cold.

Due to global warming, people horde containers to hold the unreliable rainwater to create numerous niches for mosquitoes which spread Zika virus.

Isn't the spread of Zika virus causing microcephaly in neonates a bad enough consequence of anthropogenic climate change? Destroying new brains is very bad! Not all life may be destroyed but creating more of our own Retardicons by mosqu-itoes is very disheartening.

Bernie Sanders is hoping to capture Trump followers who, really angry with their economic situation, wrongly have been convinced it is the fault of Mexicans, refugees, African Americans and the poor. Bernie plans to show them that their poor economic situation is in fact the fault of greedy corporations, oligarchs, plutocrats, bought and corrupt politicians and banksters. This whole thing is more fixable than we think and it can be done with love in mind, love spurring from democratic socialism.

I've seen a terrific cartoon that I can't find again. It showed Hillary and Jeb Bush with no followers behind them, Trump holding a sign that says "Hate" with a few followers behind him and Sanders holding a sign that says "Love" with a long long column of followers behind him. :).

Like Turkeys Voting For Thanksgiving .. of course a large portion of Trump's supporters can be won over by Bernie Sanders' great arguments IF only the low-info, low-education yet highly reactionary/prejudiced politically mis-educated by both school & corporate MSM - can hear his message!!! There hasn't been a 99% POTUS candidate like Bernie Sanders [ https://berniesanders.com/issues/ ] since FDR!! It NEVER fails to astound and amaze me ... as to just how The US 99%, has hitherto been successfully spun and scared into voting for The 1%/0.01%/Corporations' Best Interests - but people, especially the young, are now waking up to actually identify with their own collective/class interests - and not a moment too soon!

"As we gather together in solidarity to express a feeling of mass injustice, we must not lose sight of what brought us together. We write so that all people who feel wronged by the corporate forces of the world can know that we are your allies.

As one people, united, we acknowledge the reality: that the future of the human race requires the cooperation of its members; that our system must protect our rights, and upon corruption of that system, it is up to the individuals to protect their own rights, and those of their neighbors; that a democratic government derives its just power from the people, but corporations do not seek consent to extract wealth from the people and the Earth; and that no true democracy is attainable when the process is determined by economic power. We come to you at a time when corporations, which place profit over people, self-interest over justice, and oppression over equality, run our governments. We have peaceably assembled here, as is our right, to let these facts be known.

They have taken our houses through an illegal foreclosure process, despite not having the original mortgage.
They have taken bailouts from taxpayers with impunity, and continue to give Executives exorbitant bonuses.
They have perpetuated inequality and discrimination in the workplace based on age, the color of one's skin, sex, gender identity and sexual orientation.
They have poisoned the food supply through negligence, and undermined the farming system through monopolization.
They have profited off of the torture, confinement, and cruel treatment of countless nonhuman animals, and actively hide these practices.
They have continuously sought to strip employees of the right to negotiate for better pay and safer working conditions.
They have held students hostage with tens of thousands of dollars of debt on education, which is itself a human right.
They have consistently outsourced labor and used that outsourcing as leverage to cut workers’ healthcare and pay.
They have influenced the courts to achieve the same rights as people, with none of the culpability or responsibility.
They have spent millions of dollars on legal teams that look for ways to get them out of contracts in regards to health insurance.
They have sold our privacy as a commodity.
They have used the military and police force to prevent freedom of the press.
They have deliberately declined to recall faulty products endangering lives in pursuit of profit.
They determine economic policy, despite the catastrophic failures their policies have produced and continue to produce.
They have donated large sums of money to politicians supposed to be regulating them.
They continue to block alternate forms of energy to keep us dependent on oil.
They continue to block generic forms of medicine that could save people’s lives in order to protect investments that have already turned a substantive profit.
They have purposely covered up oil spills, accidents, faulty bookkeeping, and inactive ingredients in pursuit of profit.
They purposefully keep people misinformed and fearful through their control of the media.
They have accepted private contracts to murder prisoners even when presented with serious doubts about their guilt.
They have perpetuated colonialism at home and abroad.
They have participated in the torture and murder of innocent civilians overseas.
They continue to create weapons of mass destruction in order to receive government contracts.†

To the people of the world,

We, the New York City General Assembly occupying Wall Street in Liberty Square, urge you to assert your power.

Exercise your right to peaceably assemble; occupy public space; create a process to address the problems we face, and generate solutions accessible to everyone.

To all communities that take action and form groups in the spirit of direct democracy, we offer support, documentation, and all of the resources at our disposal.

''Special Report: America presents itself to the world as “the land of the free” but – for the vast majority – it is a place of enslaving indebtedness, a reality for much of “The 99%” - that has deep historical roots hidden or “lost” from our history.''

This article is an amazing read and (hopefully) is in compliment of your excellent and timely reply above. Any and all OWS supporters should try to read that beautiful declaration again - to recharge their minds.

Finally bw, I should also add in the light of my having to repeat my reply to you & your words above that it would be a nearly criminal shame to allow trivial personal problems to detract from this still vital forum, despite past problems .. especially at this critical time for Bernie Sanders - the de facto OWS POTUS!!

Social Security is the most successful government program in our nation’s history. Before it was signed into law, nearly half of senior citizens lived in poverty. Today, the elderly poverty rate is 10 percent. Although still much too high, that’s a dramatic improvement.

Through good times and bad, Social Security has paid every nickel owed to every eligible American – on time and without delay. As corporations destroyed the retirement dreams of millions over the past 30 years by eliminating defined benefit pension plans, Social Security was right there paying full benefits. As millions of Americans lost their life savings after Wall Street’s recklessness crashed the economy in 2008, Social Security was right there paying full benefits.

Today, Social Security is more important than ever. Over half of workers between the ages of 55-64 have no retirement savings. More than a third of senior citizens depend on Social Security for virtually all of their income. One out of every five senior citizens is trying to scrape by on an average income of just $8,300 a year.

Given these facts, our job cannot be to cut Social Security. Our job must be to expand it so that every American can retire with dignity and respect.

Virtually every Republican candidate for president disagrees. Many of them claim Social Security is “going broke,” that it’s causing the deficit to explode, and its trust fund is full of IOUs.

They want the American people to believe Social Security is in crisis and must be cut.

They are dead wrong.

Here are the facts:

Social Security has a $2.8 trillion surplus. It can pay every benefit owed to every eligible American for the next 19 years (and more than three-quarters after that).

Social Security’s assets aren’t “just paper,” as conservatives sometimes put it. Social Security invests in U.S Treasury bonds, the safest interest-bearing securities in the world. These are the same bonds wealthy investors have purchased, along with China and other foreign countries. These bonds are backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government, which in our long history has never defaulted on its debt obligations.

Right now a billionaire pays the same amount of money into Social Security as someone who makes $118,500 a year. That’s because there is a cap on taxable income that goes into the Social Security system.

Sen. Sanders has introduced legislation to end this absurdity, by lifting this cap so that everyone who makes over $250,000 a year pays the same percentage of their income into Social Security as the middle class and working families.

This would not only extend the solvency of Social Security for the next 50 years, but also bring in enough revenue to expand benefits by an average of $65 a month; increase cost-of-living-adjustments; and lift more seniors out of poverty by increasing the minimum benefits paid to low-income seniors.

Not only is this the right thing to do from a moral perspective, it is also what the vast majority of the American people want us to do. 61 percent of the American people support expanding Social Security benefits by lifting the cap on taxable income, according to an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll earlier this year.

At a time when millions of Americans are working longer hours for lower wages, even as virtually all of the new income in this country is going to the top one percent, Sen. Sanders’ legislation will begin to reduce the obscene level of income inequality in America.

It’s time to expand Social Security to make sure that everyone in this country can retire with the dignity and respect they deserve."

''...Occupy Wall Street revived the populist challenge, armed this time with the Internet and mass media to spread the word. The Occupy movement shined a spotlight on the corrupt culture of greed unleashed by deregulating Wall Street, so widening the yawning gap between the 1% and the 99% and destroying jobs, households and the economy.''

Many thanx for an extensive excerpt & link re. Bernie Sanders and Social Security. RAISE THE CAP!!!

For all of those people who say inflation is good for my people, ask them after they have filed their 2015 income tax returns whether they like the 50% social security tax reserved for 1983 "high-income" senior citizens. If you love inflation, Venezuela being so close to the U.S. geographically is the inflationary heaven waiting for you. People say that all travellers should carry a roll of good old American toilet tissue paper. Es importante!

Social security assets are really intergenerational promises. They are "just paper" to some conservatives because these conservatives have little intention to fulfill the promises. How much they are worth will depend on our future generations' willingness and ability to honor their promises. The social security tax money has already been SPENT, on the War on Terror, if you will (because money is fungible).

I know cultures in which even a promisory paper is not required. That was how the U.S. government had been treating the social security trust fund until people asked to visit it. Now there are cabinets of treasury securities that we can actually visit. True enough, they are just fancy pieces of paper with the promise "full faith and credit of the U.S. government" printed on them.

What I do worry about is how our younger generations are going to honor these promises because we do NOT collect any social security taxes from the algorithmic automata which are acceleratingly taking over the jobs done by many human beings. Our human children may be willing but still be lacking the ability (no job, no tax). As one of our wiser ;) "mind children" may well put it (jokingly, gasp!), "The wine is great but the meat is rotten."

Good points, but I think the first thing Americans should do is demand that we stop funding useless wars that enrich the wealthy and corporations and start funding the needs of human beings. Healthcare. Retirement. Education. Infrastructure.

It's really not that difficult to figure out. Tax Wall Street. End the wars.

Absolutely. The U.S. has many now-grown-up allies worldwide who are fully capable of doing chores and keeping their neighborhoods clean and livable. The U.S. is not their parent who has to fumigate our allies' bedrooms everytime a cockroach or rat is found there. We should be their Big Brother, ever watchful of pest infestation in their bedrooms and to alert them as needed. End our wars, indeed.

The Big Government must reign in Wall Street because it did not, have not, and will not behave reasonably. Like overgrown underbrush that caught fire again and again and nearly burning down the whole world's house, we must cut it back, chop it up, pull it out, burn it down, if need be, to eradicate the systemic threat.

It's a token proposal. They all know that it will never become law. And if it ever did, they would find a way to compensate for it. For nothing, I mean NOTHING will ever compel the most corrupt generation of 'leaders' in American history to do right by the middle class or the lower majority. Not when it's all said and done. I still prefer Democrats over Republicans in general but only because they are under slightly more pressure to act on behalf of the little guy. Sorry but we lose. We'll get our shot at true reform when a comet smashes into the Earth and not one moment sooner.

''I still prefer Democrats over Republicans in general but only because they are under slightly more pressure to act on behalf of the little guy.'' !!! Hmmm !! Interesting SMC ! Also re. 'SS', fyi - see ...

Never say never. Any & all Social Sec expansion proposals WILL succeed at exciting more middle class people. Just as all our (& other like minded groups) protests, succeed at adding to the national debate on the issue.

The more proposals/protests we generate, the more likely our positions in the debate can dominate the marketplace of ideas and inevitably pass progressive change that benefits the 99%.

All these actions (& others) are critical for growing a mass movement to bring maximum pressure on all pols (whatever party) to implement policies we support.

Excellent reply. Well said. However, I still believe that this proposal is a token. I find it near impossible to believe that any of it's sponsors give it a snow ball's chance in hell of becoming law. It's far too noble and logical. It would cost the most rich and powerful significantly therefore, it will not happen. I also believe that all members of both major parties understand the concentration of wealth much better than they let on. They almost never acknowledge it but their actions related to it have become incredibly predictable. Every time they say or do something to make it seem as if the issue will be addressed, they turn right around and say or do something to make it even worse.

There is no point in citing any Republican rhetoric or proposals. We all know that they run their mouths about the rich 'producers' and how lucky we are to have them every damn day. Their sold-out talk radio goons harp on that crap like it's gospel straight from the bible.

But the Democrats aren't much better. For example, they pretend as if they want more 'equality' but for every relevant proposal, most of which are tokens, they turn right around and do more PR and money favors for Wal-Mart, GE, Warren Buffet, Hollywood, Beyonce, Tiger Woods, Brad Pitt, Oprah Winfrey, Ellen Degeneres, the health care industry, the music industry, and lately, Wall Street in general with the 85 billion per month.

The 85 billion per month in particular would have been the real world equivalent of a miracle for the lower majority if it had been spent on a public works program instead. There are thousands of neglected communities which need the attention not to mention our crumbling infrastructure. Those government sponsored jobs alone would have reduced the concentration of wealth by two or three percent within a year. But FXXX NO. IT GOES TO WALL STREET INSTEAD. Gxx dxxx disgusting hypocrite PIGS. Damn near every one of them.

Also, the masses are beyond reach. They will never realize or even care just how much power they have within their wallets, their bank accounts, and under their mattresses. For if they would alter their spending habits significantly, they could EASILY reduce the concentration of wealth by 10% or more within a few years. But FXXX NO. Instead, they continue to buy more over-priced wealth concentrating CRAP like their very lives depend on it. The vast overwhelming majority do so with no regard whatsoever for the C.O.W. or anything else. So the pigs get even richer, the lower majority end up with an even lower net worth, and more wealth is concentrated by region resulting in more neglected communities, more cuts in city services, more racial tension, more red tape, and the bankruptcy of Detroit. Meanwhile, the more recently developed cities thrive on concentrated wealth. It's all related. The lines are easy to draw but the masses are impossible to reach.

I'm all out of ideas which don't involve a web page, a dozen phone calls to the press and my body going off the roof of a skyscraper along with 10,000 copies of a manifesto explaining all of the above in detail.

This movement is still worth supporting but it's not having an overall effect. For every one positive achievement attributed to this movement, there is a more significant development which results in more concentrated wealth, power, and influence. We are losing in a big way.

I concur with much of your description of the overwhelming problems we face. I disagree with your excessive pessimism on our efforts/prospects.

We face the most powerful force against the 99% in all history (corporatist oligarchs). The battle will take many years, but we will persevere, & succeed. We have only begun to create momentum for change.

One of our most difficult challenges is eliminating apathy, paralyzing pessimism, hopelessness at the seemingly impossible task.

So many uninvolved middle class people don't feel threatened by our current destructive economic inequity.

The popular (amongst middle class!) Social Security system is an excellent way to somehow get those middle class people involved and supportive of our progressive agenda for change that benefits us all.

Social Security expansion is only one effort to improve the lives of the 99%, excite/involve more people, grow the movement/pressure all pols to pass policies that benefit the 99%

We (you?) just can't give up. Do not submit to the despair our reality suggests.

I appreciate your opinion. We'll just have to disagree about our odds of success. Sometimes I slow down and take breaks but I never give up. I've been at this for 9 years. I don't expect to reverse our loss to the pigs. I only hope to make it slightly less severe and to be a thorn in the side of a few pigs.

I have mixed feelings about optimism. Years ago, when I used to spend my days off and most afternoons at the library posting rants all over the web, I used to show up there filled with glee. I really got a kick out of ripping on those 1% pigs. I expected to make a difference. But I noticed again and again and again and again that if not for my relentless efforts, the TOTAL search results for all of the relevant phrases posted within the previous 24 hours would drop significantly. Then, this movement really took off. It looked promising. Then, it faded significantly within two years. It's still a great site for sharing similar views but it's primarily the same half dozen excellent and very committed users sharing those views with each other.

All of this is very frustrating. I wasn't kidding about the skyscraper. I've seriously considered it many times over the past 7 or 8 years.

I no longer function on optimism. Never again. If it works for others, that's fine. For me, justified hatred is a much more powerful motive. I have truck loads of it. Fortunately, for the pigs, I also have truck loads of self-discipline. Otherwise, I would have made the news in a big way years ago. If I ever do resort to anything drastic, it will be me and only me going off the roof of that sky scraper. I would never give those pigs the opportunity to label me a criminal or a murderer or anything like that. I would never discredit this cause with a criminal act any worse than sneaking my way to that roof top.

how about the fed loaning social security money at zero percent (like they do for the banks!!) so that we could INCREASE benefits by 30% - that would cause many of us older folks to retire and open jobs for the youth of today! or better yet drop the age of full benefits to 55 and see what that does. do you think that would get the votes of the millionaires in the senate??

That second proposal would be very good for retirees but also very expensive. Our sold-out leaders would never vote for that or anything else that shifts the distribution of wealth in that direction. They are not on our side. Not even the Democrats. They never will be.

i don't think it would be expensive at all. almost every dollar given out by the fed would be spent (unlike the money given to the banks!) making the economy grow. but you are right - our politicians will not do something so simple and good for the majority. we need another populist movement to get us off the "cross of gold"

Too expensive - huh - looking at the excerpt below - and not taking into consideration the games being played to discredit SS - well hell - there is no problem at all - we just 85 billion a month QE Social Security for a couple of years and - well HELL - HUGE SURPLUS - Heh. But nah I guess that it is better for all to just pour that 85 billion a month onto the ground ummm wall street ummmm yeah onto the ground like I 1st said.

2010 Annual Report

Today's economy has had a negative impact on Social Security, creating a situation whereby 2010's expenditures exceeded income before interest for the first time since 1983. The 2010 Social Security Trust Fund deficit stands at $49 billion, while the projected deficit for 2011 stands at $46 billion.

That's why there is a subsidized housing ( they would prefer no such thing but ) program - is not enough - but they can say they care - because there "is" a program - which fortunately pays out to "some" rental property owners - ooo dare I say it? - investment properties.

OH - sorry you probably meant flip's 2nd proposal.

As I guess mine would have been proper caps and taxing of the wealthy - which would by the way help fund flip's 2nd suggestion.

A progressive tax scale from very low for 4 figures of annual income to very high for 7 or more figures of annual income would do wonders for the lower majority and economic stability. Caps on bottom line wealth would do even more. But neither will ever happen. There will be no reasonable distribution of income or bottom line wealth and no relatively strong middle class until after the comet strikes.

By the way, you do well in this forum. I've been keeping track of you and a few others. Please tell me you post somewhere else as well. This one alone isn't reaching enough people.

Craigslist has a 'politics' forum in every major city and a bunch of smaller ones. You should be posting there as well. Sometimes, when an event makes the news that I want to comment on, I'll go to the CL location most relevant and post an entry. I've made a lot of users angry there. I've even had my life threatened a few times. That should tell you something. When someone tries desperately to make you shut up, there is a good chance that you're doing something right. Don't worry. It's anonymous. My views are as controversial as anything out there and nobody has found out my identity. Anyway, there are Federal laws protecting our anonymity.

Blogspot.com is another good one. I used to go to the library and sit there for hours posting copies of my rants all over the web. I had it down to a science. Well over 60 copies per hour.

You should be all over Craigslist and Blogspot. I guess facebook also but I hate facebook. I created a fake account with a fake name there a while back because a bunch of websites would not let me post without a facebook account. But I have no intention of creating a real account there ever.

Also consider - in expanding ( increasing ) SS benefits - another major problem can be addressed/alleviated = Affordable Housing. There is not enough affordable housing for low income ( below the poverty line ) SS recipients let alone for all of the minimum wage ( requiring public assistance ) workers. By increasing SS benefit amounts more of the housing market would be open to them. OH and not to forget = no government inspection programs required to see that subsidized housing is livable - if people can afford to live elsewhere = They Will !!!

But hey like you said elsewhere - It likely will take an act of God to see this issue (s) properly addressed.

ALSO:

No increases - not in benefits and not in a minimum wage will do any lasting good without proper caps ( and proper taxes ) on income of the 1% as the need will keep spiraling upward along with the greed fueled inflation.

While I mostly agree I would like. You to keep this point in mind. Nobody saw the rebellion of 1968 and 69 coming in 1966. No demonstrations no student strikes and no black men going in the front door of the diner in north carolina

The only problem is that there isn't any such thing as the social security trust fund -- it's an accounting fraud. The money that's collected is turned over to the treasury and immediately spent. The treasury then issues an IOU in the form of a treasury bill, that can only be paid off by collecting more taxes from the same people they taxed the first time around. There isn't a real, actual dime set aside anywhere. The only thing they have is a very large pile of T-bills payable with future revenues (e.g., taxes)

It's exactly the same as if you had a hundred dollars, wrote yourself an IOU for a hundred dollars, spent the money, and then claimed you had a hundred dollars in "investments." You go to jail for that sort of thing if you're not the government.

Your point holds water but by that standard the entirety of The Federal Budget is "an accounting fraud" and more pertinently "High Finance Kaputalism" is a Giant Ponzi Scheme and a clear 'busted flush' !!!

"Formula For Fraud" with Prof. Wm. K. Black - from the first Italian economic Summit on Modern Money Theory in Rimini, Italy. How to become a billionaire - the four necessary ingredients in the recipe for fraud ; the three sure consequences of banking control fraud ; gutting of the underwriting process ; Gresham's Law ; The Business Roundtable ; hyperinflation of a bubble." : http://www.kpfa.org/archive/id/79331 and ...

I quite agree - the rest of the federal budget is calculated in a similarly fictitious manner, as are many state and local government budgets. It also happens in business a lot too. The difference in those cases is that none of these other folks can do it with impunity like the feds can. Sooner or later the ponzi scheme goes bust when the money runs out. That's what happens to businesses, and that's what's happened to some cities recently. Someday it'll happen to the federal government too, just like it happened to Greece, it'll just take longer.